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Varadero lies on the Hicacos Peninsula on the north coast of Matanzas province. The waves are gentle, the sand is white and very fine, and the water is clear. Kitesurfing goes on in zones along the beach, and catamarans take people snorkeling among the cays north of the peninsula.

East of Havana, Playas del Este is a chain of white sand beaches with warm water: Bacuranao, Tarará, Mégano, Santa María del Mar, Boca Ciega, Guanabo, La Veneciana and Brisas del Mar. Guanabo, with its own built-up area, lies between Boca Ciega and La Veneciana, and most water sports are at Tarará.

Cayo Coco is part of the Jardines del Rey archipelago, north of Morón in Ciego de Ávila province. Playa Flamenco is a sandy shore with clear, shallow water, and Playa Las Coloradas is a beach for water sports and sunbathing. Something dropped while wading at Flamenco and something lost diving on the reef call for two separate plans.

Playa Pilar lies a few kilometers from the hotels on Cayo Guillermo, with warm turquoise water, very fine sand and large dunes guarding it, and people snorkel and dive there on the coral reef. Playa El Paso is the longest beach on the cay, where steady winds make waves for water sports. If you were out on a board or snorkeling rather than lying on the sand, mention it, since that moves the search into the water.

A road crosses the Bay of Buenavista to a line of cays. Las Brujas is the first, its whole shoreline taken up by one beach, with a coral reef. Ensenachos is the smallest, with the Ensenachos and El Mégano beaches. Cayo Santa María is the last and largest, and its beaches include Perla Blanca, Las Caletas, Cañón and Cuatro Puntas, set off by rocky bluffs, and catamaran trips go out from the marina.

Guardalavaca is in Holguín province in the northeast. A coral reef lies off its strip of sand and keeps the water calm, and the seabed draws divers. Catamaran trips from here and the beaches nearby stop to snorkel on the La Cubera and Las Caleticas reefs.

Playa Esmeralda is a half-moon beach west of Guardalavaca, with lagoons around it and the green water that gives it its name. Playa Pesquero and Playa Baracutey are also close to dive sites, and a hop-on hop-off bus links the beaches, so list them in order if you visited several.

Playa Ancón is on the Ancón Peninsula near Trinidad, with clear, warm water, coral reefs, snorkeling and diving. La Boca sits by a small village where rivers meet the Caribbean, with a shore of small stones and calm water. La Batea is a cove with fine sand and a rocky shore, good for swimming among corals.

Out on the Caribbean side, Cayo Largo del Sur is an isolated, quiet cay with coconut palms, fine white sand, turquoise water and coral reefs. Its beaches include Playa Paraíso and Playa Sirena. Paraíso or Sirena makes a difference, and so does the water's edge against the shade of the palms.